Thursday, March 17, 2011

The good news is we’re not reading less. The sort of confusing news is, we’re reading differently. Only the fullness of time will show what all of this will mean to traditionally focused book retailers.

According to a report released today by the Association of American Publishers, e-books and downloadable audio books continue to show incredible growth. And it’s a good thing too, because the numbers coming back on print sales would be enough to make most publishers cry into their green beer.

According to AAP, figures for January 2011 show an increase in e-book sales of 115.8 per cent over the same period last year. From $32.4 Million, AAP reports, to $69.9 million.

Downloadable audio books, meanwhile, rose by 8.8 percent over January 2010: from $6.0 million to $6.5 million. Not as impressive a growth factor, for sure, but certainly in the right direction.

Sales across all platforms showed a slight drop of -1.9 percent: from $805.7 million from last year’s $821.5 million.

And while there was actually an increase in the sales of professional and scholarly books, in the mainstream print categories, the news was all bad with adult hardcover down 11.3 percent, adult paperback down 19.7 per cent and adult mass market down 30.9 per cent.